Residual Stress of a-Si1-xNx:H Films Prepared by Afterglow Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition Technique

Abstract
Relationships between residual stress and other film properties of amorphous silicon nitride films deposited by microwave afterglow plasma of NH3 and by photochemical vapor deposition have been studied. There are differences in the dependence of N-H and Si-H bond density and residual stress on the film composition between the films deposited by the two methods. The residual tensile stresses in both films, however, reach a maximum value of 7-9×109 dyn/cm2 when the N-H bond density is nearly equal to the Si-H bond density. The residual stress can be reduced by adjusting the N-H and Si-H bond density while maintaining the high breakdown field strength and high resistivity.